Grad Student Laura VanDuren Uses Citrus Skins for Spiritual Healing, Art

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Dried out citrus skins and a spool of bright blue thread lay scattered on a table in the sculpture studio of the Fine Arts Building. For Laura VanDuren, a fine arts graduate student with a concentration in sculpture, the process of creating art is her therapy session. The 55-year-old artist said her fascination for all types of skins stemmed from their representation of the scars and wounds in her past life. As she picks up each citrus skin and uses a needle to thread each to another, she heals from her former marriage of 26 years. “I want to show the wound and the repair because in our lives we have things we want to heal,” VanDuren said. “The sewing part is the healing of the wounds, it will always be there but we can repair it.” VanDuren said she experiences a spiritual connection to each piece of skin as if the rinds spoke to her, taking their place in the landscape.